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Glossary
This page should list all the terms used in the game of contract bridge, sorted in alphabetical order. All terms which are too short for an article should be redirected here. No internal links outside this page (except redirects) should point to this page. In this article, italic terms are internal cross-references. / Short for . Used on s and s. 0314 A variant of Roman key card Blackwood, in which the first step shows 0 or 3 key cards and the second step shows 1 or 4 key cards. 1430 A variant of Roman key card Blackwood, in which the first step shows 1 or 4 key cards and the second step shows 3 or 0 key cards. A A The ace card. above the line In , points which do not count towards s. ACBL The zonal bridge organisation of North America. accept The act of making the intended bid after a bid. ace The highest card in a . action An action is a other than a . advance Advance is a term used in defensive bidding. If the partner of the overcaller/doubler bids, he becomes the advancer. alert A method to inform the s that a may have an unexpected meaning. announcement A method to inform the s the meaning of a which is generally treated differently by different people. arrow An arrow is used to show the direction of North in a duplicate bridge event. artificial A call is considered artificial if it is not . If the call is a bid, it is a bid which is not at all a suggestion to play in a particular contract. Often, artificial bids show nothing about the suit which is bid. Common examples of artificial bids include * Stayman * Any cue-bid * Blackwood, Gerber, Splinter bids A system is called an artificial system if it is mainly composed of artificial calls, like relay systems. asking bid An asking bid is one which requires partner to respond with one of several bids to give more information. Typically the captain makes the asking bids. Stayman and Jacoby 2NT are both common asking bids. auction bridge The predecessor to contract bridge, with only the scoring method differs. B balance (verb) To balance means to make an at the seat. Same as . balanced 4-3-3-3, 4-4-3-2 and 5-3-3-2 shape. See also . balancing The balancing is the seat where the last is on the left, after two consecutive passes. Therefore, if the player at the balancing seat also passes, the ends. An alternate term is and the opposite term is . In the following auction, East is in the balancing seat. The bidding in this seat is sometimes slightly different from bidding in position, since the balancing bidder has the power to end the auction with one more pass. Thus, preemptive bids generally do not make sense in balancing seat. Moreover, as the partner has limited his hand by passing, a bid can usually be made at weaker strength than at the direct position. below the line In , points that count towards a game. bid A bid is a call which constitutes a and a . book The initial six tricks by the declarer, which is not bid but assumed, and do not count towards the score. boss suit (slang) The suit. See also: . bottom A board that is played the worst in the field. If MP scoring is used, the term is equivalent in meaning as zero. bust A bust is a very weak hand with a long suit. In particular, when partner opens notrump, the contract is undesirable. A bust hand therefore runs to the long suit where it is safer. This is particularly common with minor suits. C call A , , or . canapé A bidding style that bids short suits before long suits. captain Once a player has limited her hand, she becomes the private and her partner becomes the captain. The captain's job is to ask for any more information she needs to determine where the best contract will be, and then to sign off in that bid. She therefore forces the private until she has enough information. Once the captain has made a non-forcing bid, the private should no longer make any free bids. club The suit. contract A with an optional or which specifies the , the and the stakes. contract bridge Contract bridge is a form of trick-taking card game played by two pairs which the aim is to get the highest score by either bidding a contract and making it, or defeating the opponent's contract. convention An artificial call in a natural system to communicate specific information. Contrast: treatment convert To convert a call means to change the meaning of a call. For example, a penalty pass converts a takeout double to penalty. cross-ruff To cross-ruff means to ruff repetitively (usually to play a card from the declarer to the dummy's void, then to play a card from the dummy to the declarer's void, and so on), in order to gain more tricks. For example, when s are trumps: After drawing trumps, the hand can be claimed to take all remaining tricks by cross-ruffing. D dbl Short for . dealer The player who deals the cards. In , the dealer does not actually deals the cards, but instead is marked on the . denomination A denomination is one of the four suits, or notrump (NT). The ascending order of the denomination is , , , , and NT. DEPO Short for double even pass odd, used after interference of Blackwood. diamond The . direct The direct seat is the seat directly after the right-hand opponent has bid. An immediate overcall is therefore called a direct overcall, and a number of other terms also inherit this name. The opposite term is balancing. discard (verb) To play a card other than s when unable to follow suit. DONT Short for disturbing opponent's no trump, a method for interfering over a opening. DOPI Short for double zero pass one, used after interference of Blackwood. double A call which can only be made when the last is a by the opponents. Its natural meaning is to increase the stakes. double-dummy The term double-dummy refers to the situation when all four hands are known. It is because when there are two dummies lying on the tables, all four hands are known. See also . double-dummy solver A program which finds the optimal line of play when all four hands are known. doubleton A suit which contains exactly two cards. Compare and . draw To draw trumps means to remove the opponents' s. dummy # of the whose card is played by the . # The cards lie down on the table by the dummy. E escape To escape from a contract means that the contract is bad, and a better one is chosen. establish To establish a card means to set it up as a . For example, the K and Q are said to be established if the A is played when one holds KQ72 in s. F flat The term flat, as an adjective can have two meanings: # A board which nearly everyone scores the same. # A hand with no shape, i.e. 4-3-3-3 distribution. Same as . feature An outside A, K, or Q is typically called a feature. This is used, for instance, in rebids after a 2NT response to a weak two bid. fert (slang) Short for fertiliser, an opening used for very weak hands in strong pass systems. field The field is the set of contestants playing the same board. This term only applies to pair duplicate events. fit A fit is typically 8 cards in one suit between a partnership. Common shapes for fits are 5-3, 4-4, 5-4, 6-2, etc. A 7-card fit is called a Moyesian fit. free bid A free bid is a bid when not forced. Usually the term is describe in the situation when partner makes a forcing bid and RHO overcalls, hence frees the forcing bid. G H heart The . HCP . high card point High card points (HCPs) are used in hand evaluation. An ace is 4 points, king is 3 points, queen is 2 points, jacks is 1 point. There are 40 HCPs in a deck. honour An ace, king, queen, jack or ten. HKCBA The regional bridge organisation of Hong Kong. I IMP International Match Point, a form of scoring in duplicate bridge. invitational An invitational call is a call which tells the partner to bid game if he holds a non-minimum hand, or a good-fitting hand. For example, - is normally played as invitational, which tells the opener to bid if holding a non-minimum. J jump To at a level higher than necessary. K K king The second highest card. L level The term level has two related meaning: * The level of a bid. If used in this way, a number is attached to it. For example, to are called 1-level bids. * A measure of the bidding space. For example, a bid after consumes two levels. M major suit or , which worth 30 points per masterpoint A system used for ranking the performance of players in the long run. matchpoint A form of scoring in duplicate bridge. minor suit or , which worth 20 points per MP # Short for , a form of scoring in duplicate bridge. # Short for , a system used for ranking players. N natural A natural call is a call which specifies its literal meaning. * A natural bid indicates willingness to play in the denomination named. * A natural double or redouble means to increase the score of the contract. * A natural pass means not willing to make any other call. A natural system is a system which is mainly composed of natural calls. The opposite is artificial. notrump Notrump, or no trump, means its literal meaning, i.e. without suit. nullo Nullo is a in some variant of bridge (but not in contract bridge proper), which is to lose s instead of to win s. Nullo ranks lower than notrump, but higher than spades, and scores as the same as notrump. For example, a 1 nullo contract promises to lose at least 7 tricks, while a 7 nullo contract promises to lose all 13 tricks. Nullo was developed at the time of , but was dropped because it is hard to bid. O ODR Short for offence to defence ratio, a method of hand evaluation useful in competitive auction. off A convention is said to be off if it can't be activated at that point of the auction. Otherwise, it is said to be on. For example, if Stayman is off when a 1NT opening is interfered by a double, a bid by the responder is a natural sign off. on A convention is said to be on if it can be activated at that point of the auction. Otherwise, it is said to be off. For example, if Stayman is on when a 1NT opening is interfered by a double, a bid by the responder is Stayman. overruff To overruff means to play a higher trump card when unable to follow suit, when a trump card is already in the trick. P P Short for . pair Two players as partnership, one sitting opposite to the other. A pair event is an event which is entered by pairs. See duplicate bridge for details. pass A pass is a whose natural meaning is unwillingness to take an . The ends with an followed by three consecutive passes, or four consecutive passes without an . pass or correct A pass-or-correct bid is a kind of 2-suited sign off which shows no further interest. It requires the partner to pass or correct to the other suit. penalty * The score awarded to the opponents when the contract is set. * A score given to the non-offending side when someone violates rules. preempt To bid at a high level in order to take away the bidding . prerequisite Some conventions only make sense if other conventions are in play. These are called prerequisites. pull (Slang) To pull a or means to remove it by bidding over it. puppet A puppet is an artificial call which unconditionally requires the partner to make a specific bid, usually the lowest one, after which the player placing the puppet can have further action. A puppet is different from a relay that a relay bid itself shows nothing, but asks the partner to respond something; a puppet show something, but requests the partner to return, showing nothing. push (slang) Board which perform the same as others. Same as . e.g. This board was a push. Q quack (slang) Queens and Jacks. They are useful when supported but usually useless when unsupported. R rdbl Short for . redbl Short for . redouble A call which can only be made when the last is a by the opponents. Its natural meaning is to further increase the stakes. royal A in that are trumps and each odd trick is worth 9 points. See also: . ruff To ruff means to play a card when unable to follow . It wins the trick when not ed. run To repetitively take s by playing s in a . S sac Slang for sacrifice To deliberate bid a contract that cannot be made, hoping that the will be less than the value of the making contract by the opponents. self-raise A self-raise is a raise of a suit previously bid by the same player. It usually shows a longer suit then before, Such a bid is almost always limiting. sequence A sequence is formed by consecutive cards. For example, AKQJ is a 4-card sequence. shape The shape of a is defined as the number of cards in each . If a quantifier is used along the word shape, it refers to the difference in length between the longest and shortest suits. i.e. 4-3-3-3 is no shape, 4-4-3-2 is little shape, 6-2-3-2 is a lot of shape, and 8-4-1-0 is an extreme shape. shapeless A hand with exactly 4-3-3-3 distribution. Same as . shapely A hand which the difference in length between the longest and shortest suits is large, such as 7-4-2-0 shape. side A side is either North-South or East-West. sign off A sign off is a bid indicating that partner should pass. Typically, game bids are sign offs. Other instances is when it becomes clear that there is no possibility for game. singleton A suit which contains exactly one card. Compare and . slam A small slam is a 6-level contract; a grand slam is a 7-level contract. As the bonuses for slam is very large, conventions are developed for accurate bidding. The bonuses for slam: space The bidding space has 7 levels and 35 steps. Making a bid always take up some space, but making other calls doesn't. spade The . step Bidding space is measured in levels and steps. The space between a bid and the immediate next bid is called a step. For example, - is 3 steps, - is 34 steps. A level is equivalent to 5 steps. solid A suit is considered solid if it contains an unbroken line of honors from the A. Typically, A-K-Q is required to call a suit solid, but this can be generalized to more (i.e. "five solid" would mean A-K-Q-J-T, and so on). It is useful to show solid suits to confirm a maximum weak two bid. A suit is nearly solid if it is missing a single low honor from being solid. Thus, A-K-J is nearly solid. strain suit There are 4 suits in the deck: (club), (diamond), (heart), (spade). and are called the minor suit's and and are called the '''major suit's. A major suit scores 30 per odd trick, a minor suit scores 20 per odd tricks. As major suit games need one less trick to make, it is generally preferable to place contracts in majors instead of minors. The boss suit is the spade suit, since it is the highest suit, thus having the ability to take up the whole level and wins competitive biddings. swing (slang) A large difference in score. For example, a game swing is the difference between a game and a partscore, while a double game swing is the difference between making games of two sides. T T Ten. Used when each card has to be represented by exactly one character. team Some tournament are played in teams. A team is formed by 4 to 6 players, with 4 of them playing, the remaining spare. When team A and B compete, the N-S pair of team A plays with the E-W pair of team B, the E-W pair of team A plays with the N-S pair of team B, and the team result is compared by subtracting the opponents score from the other table, sitting at the same position (or equivalently add the points of the teammates from the other table together). (See also duplicate bridge) tenace A tenace is a combination of two with one missing between them, since as A-Q or K-J. Such combinations are useful for finessing underneath the missing honour held by LHO. Holding high tenaces in the dummy prevents either opponent from leading the missing honour and can therefore shut down the honour even if held by RHO. top A board that is played the best in the field. If MP scoring is used, the board gets all available MPs. treatment A natural call to communicate specific information. Contrast: convention trick A trick is formed by all four players playing a card into it in turn. trump A trump suit is a , which can be played to a when unable to follow suit, to win a trick. The act of playing a trump when unable to follow trump is called ing or trumping. In contract bridge, the trump suit is decided by the auction. U underlead To underlead an honour means to lead a card from the suit with the honour. V void A missing suit. Compare and . VP Victory point, a form of scoring in duplicate bridge. W weak or strong A call is called '''weak or strong if it denotes strength of two distinct ranges (weak or strong). It is not used by strength between the two ranges. winner A card which can win a when played. X x A small card. Used in hand diagrams. X Abbreviation of . Same as . XX Abbreviation of . Same as or . Y yarborough A hand with no s. Z zero At MP scoring, a board that gets zero matchpoints. Same as bottom. Category:Terminology